4XL - 4 Sermons, 4 Leaders
Our staff and elders hope that all of you are doing well during these very uncertain times of the COVID-19 health crisis - we were so glad to be able to meet with you in-person in the theater this past week, however, for the time being, our services will be held online only until further notice. More information will continue to roll out through our Social Media platforms to keep you up to date on where this stream will be held and the conditions therein. You can continue to find information on this subject going forward here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and we hope to be able to engage with you in our upcoming live-stream!
This past week we had four young adult leaders in our church community come and teach on what the Lord was guiding them to share with us all: Drew Unrue, our Assimilation and Communications Intern; Jordan Collins, our Worship Pastor; Jordan Kirby, a Seminary Student, and Drummer on our Worship Team; Jacob Bonetti, our Legacy Youth Intern.
Drew spoke about the need for the Fear of the Lord in our lives, saying ‘Habakkuk’s intention was to show us that our questioning and knowing has a limit – that while we seek, the fear of the Lord is the beginning and end of all purposeful wisdom as it applies to our lives here on earth.’ Speaking out of the first and third chapters of the book of Habakkuk, we see Drew mention specifically that while Habakkuk is asking very difficult questions about how God engages with our world, we must come to understand our need for a reverent fear of the Lord in our world. Even in the face of this righteous fear, we know that God is love (1 John 4:7), and we see this ending resolution that Habakkuk declares at the end of his book saying in Hab. 3:17-18 ‘Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.’
Jordan Collins spoke about an analogy using a simple glass of water, but revealed a very important concept about how we react to various situations in our lives. ‘You fill a glass up with water, knock it over, and there’s water on the floor. Why is water on the floor? Because you knocked over the glass? No. Because there was water in the glass.’ We see this played out in Matthew 15:18 saying, ‘Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.’ Jordan continued saying, ‘ The world encourages us to merely better our reactions by taking steps of positive behavior when faced with difficult emotional situations where we may react in a bad way (take deep breaths, go for a long walk, take a cold shower, slow down). All of these means are healthy things for sure but they ultimately only solve the surface level issues. The symptoms. But because we are believers we follow Christ’s example, which is to deal with the heart. Jordan concluded with a great and convicting reminder leaving us with, ‘Daily put to death what is earthly in you and put on love and heavenly traits. Remove the dirty water from your glass and instead fill it with clean and pure and God-honoring water. That way, when difficulties show up, your only option is to pour out what is right. Let worshiping our God, who is worthy of all honor and all praise, be the way that you transform and change the way that you react. You Spill what you Fill so let Christ and Christ alone be what is inside of you and what pours out of you.
Jordan Kirby spoke out of the book of Esther, describing a good bit of the story that surrounded the people of Israel being saved through the actions of an orphan girl who rose up to the position of Queen in the kingdom of Persia. As we watch the story unfold, we see Esther being taken by her uncle Mordecai, and she eventually finds favor with the King, allowing her to rise to the position of Queen. With events going on between Mordecai and a high official named Haman the people of Israel are threatened with slaughter - when Mordecai prompts Esther with this, Jordan describes, ‘Mordecai approaches Esther stating that, ‘The King is going to find out that you’re a Jew, you may as well at least try and do something about it - you could die then, or die later, but who’s to say that God has not placed you in this position to be able to save us?’ This story speaks directly to the various events that take place for the sake of the people of God that are in God’s control, which are influenced by God’s sovereignty in our world. God is famously never mentioned in this book of Scripture, yet the events that continue to come about show us that God has a hand in every thing going on as it concerns His covenant people. No matter what threat we are facing, like the global pandemic right now - God is in control.
Jacob addresses Worship, Prayer, and the Word when we consider and come to terms with our Awe of God. Jacob began by saying, ‘The thing that’s cool about awe-inspiring things is that often, humans will have some sort of reaction to something that produces awe. For example, my dad and I love to look at stars. It is truly awe-inspiring to see the vastness of the sky. What did people do in response, we decided that we want to explore it and we have.’ This is my challenge, church: Do we live in awe of God and if we did, what about our lives or church would look differently? Concerning worship Jacob states ‘Church, when we are in awe of God, our worship looks different. Obviously worship is not just song, it is all that we do which glorifies God, but church, as we worship as a body, if we took a moment to reflect on who God is according to His Word, do you think our worship would look differently? Concerning Prayer, ‘So I ask if we are truly in awe of God and his power and his ability to already know us, why is prayer often one of the later things on our minds when something good or bad happens? Why do we treat prayer as some sort of ritualistic exercise when it is an opportunity to communicate with the awe-inspiring God who has saved us, knows us, and delights to hear our requests!?!’ Concerning the Word, ‘Personally, I believe that the Word of God is inerrant. That means that I believe every Word in the Bible can be read as if God is speaking directly to us. That means when I read in John 3:16 “for God so loved the World,” that means that God is saying that he loves the world. If we are in awe of God, why would we not want to hear what He has to say?’ Jacob concludes by challenging us if we would agree with his declaration, ‘I believe that all three areas (and the rest of our lives) are greatly impacted by our view of God. I believe that if we were in awe of Him, then our lives, and this time, would look radically different.’ - Do we look radical when it comes to these things as a church community?
Each 10 min. Sermon is available on Spotify and Apple Music - check them out via the links below!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Drew Unrue: Coming out of Habakkuk 1 & 3 - The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and what we need to lean into during difficult times or with difficult questions.
Jordan Collins: Coming out of Matthew 15:18 - Let worshiping our God, who is worthy of all honor and all praise, be the way that you transform and change the way that you react. You Spill what you Fill so let Christ and Christ alone be what is inside of you and what pours out of you.
Jordan Kirby: Coming out of Esther - No matter what threat we are facing, like the global pandemic right now - God is in control.
Jacob Bonetti: Coming out of Psalm 95 - Ultimately, I believe that if we constantly viewed God as the splendid, amazing, God that He is, our lives would look vastly different, including mine. So church, instead of living our lives as the world tells us (in light of who we are and our identity) let us live and participate in this body in light of who God is.
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
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Join us next Sunday as we go Live Online for Legacy City Church’s first Online Service!
We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!